Home-made cordage anyone?

[BillinOregon]

I've played at this a bit, but would like to get serious. I hope to locate some wild dogbane here in central Oregon. It's wonderful stuff for making light cordage that is useful for a number of things. This is not so much ML-related as it is First Nations related, but being able to find, process and twist up good, strong cordage is not a skill to be sneezed at for any time or place.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Many years ago, I had a simple, hand held, home black smith made machine that would twist small string like strands into a larger stronger rope. It came in handy with things like hay string to make a very strong manila type rope.

I have also seen a stationary hand crank machine that wove/braided twine from large spools into a stout half inch rope. The arms on the thing looked like a model of the solar system, with moons spinning around planets and plants going around the sun.

 

[Preacher Jeremy]

the stems of burning nettles make good cordage, as they are related to hemp. (using gloves for defoliating is wise. :shocked2: )

 

[pab1]

I agree, knowing how to make cordage is a great skill to have. Using the "reverse twist" method makes very strong cordage. Splices using this technique are very strong too.

 

[BillinOregon]

Nettles and milkweed yield very good fiber, but nothing that I know of in North America is as good as hemp dogbane or Indian dogbane.

 

[Brokennock]

I've used dogbane, mullen (spelling?), yucca leaf fibers, inner bark from poplar (not so great), and a weed I found recently but haven't been able to identify to make cordage for various primitive purposes. Great skill to have, a lot of work but you can only carry so much cordage with you.

 

[ohio ramrod]

A few years back I made some new lodge poles out of "slippery elm" . I used a draw shave to peel off the inner bark and made some heavy cordage out of it. It was surprisingly strong.But a lot of work for a little cordage. :idunno:

 

[BillinOregon]

O.R.: I found mulberry bark also made passable cordage.

 

[BrownBear]

All good.

But look lower down the tree or bush. For eons the local solution up here was spruce roots. Long and flexible, tough as nails, easy to work with and readily available. Dries like rawhide, so really secure for the long term.

Dunno about the roots of other trees in other places, but it's a quick and easy way to have "cordage" without the twisting, stripping and such.

 

[Rifleman1776]

wild dogbane

Never heard of it. Please describe.

 

[BillinOregon]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocynum_cannabinum
You harvest it in fall after the leaves have dropped and the stalk is dry or getting there. You then crush the stalk with your fingers and you end up with the dogbane fibers tangled with bits of pith, which you carefully remove. The fibers are incredibly strong.
Brownie, I'd love to try spruce roots but need to get over to the coast for a decent source.

 

[Rick Son]

Tule plant the same way for bow string.Julia Parker tuaght me that..See youtube for Julia Parker...
http://www.kcet.org/shows/i_am_the...-pomocoast-miwok---yosemite-valley-calif.html

 

[BillinOregon]

Chief, Julia Parker is a national treasure. Thanks for that link.

 

[WoodsRoamer]

Tulip poplar is good but needs to be retted. I usually gather bark from saplings that got knocked over and have retted naturally. It does not take a lot of time to gather a ton of bark. If you get good at doing reverse wrap you can make rope while watching T.V. or having a conversation.